Modelling of membrane reactor for hydrogen production by HI decomposition: studies on catalyst activity and non-isothermality in packed bed and coated wall configurations

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess the impact of deviations from isothermality in packed bed and coated wall membrane reactors on the rates of HI decomposition. A two-dimensional modelling was done for a packed bed membrane reactor as well as a coated wall membrane reactor for HI decomposition. The smaller diameter reactor showed higher apparent catalyst activity. The reactivity results showed that the reactors suffered from significant temperature gradients. We estimated the diameter required for packed bed and coated wall membrane reactors to achieve near isothermal operation. The coated wall reactor gives lower conversion than the packed bed reactor. The model confirmed that the measured catalyst activities in different diameter reactors varied due to heat transfer and pressure drop effects.